Manuela Mendez, Horticulture & Conservation Intern Summer 2012

I am very thankful for the internship opportunity at the Betty Ford Alpine Garden. My experience at the garden was amazing; I learned a lot in such a beautiful place surrounded by very friendly and patient staff and interns. I want to thank every single person that made this wonderful opportunity possible.

I have been working in the southern Andes studying plant ecology, a subject that I really love. But, I was very curious about alpine gardens in North America. In Chile, even though we have an amazing flora and many endemic species, there are very few botanic gardens and many of the Chilean people ignore the amazing natural treasures that we have. So, I was very interested in working for an alpine garden in order to learn about how, some day, we could have an alpine botanic garden in Chile.

I was absolutely delighted by the amazing mountains and nature of Vail. It was a pleasure to work outdoors with the butterflies and the hummingbirds. I really enjoyed planting, weeding, watering and helping identifying species. I was also happy for having the opportunity to learn about the office work and meeting the people on the board of directors. I also love the volunteer’s hike and our trips to Mount Evans and the Denver Botanic Gardens.

Finally I want to give thanks again for such an amazing experience. I will absolutely recommend this internship to others.

Education Center

Located next to the Gardens and Gore Creek in Ford Park, the Education Center opened in July 2015. Discover and learn about the alpine environment and it’s plants through self-guided informational displays, drop-in activities for children and a state of the art alpine house featuring plants from around the world.

Telephone (970) 476-0103

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